I hate borders

Nov 06, 2013 | BY: admin

I hate borders. My family, like most Palestinian refugees, is torn apart and divided by Israeli borders and restrictions. The simple act of sitting around one table became an impossibility for me and my siblings. Because of this dispersion, any political conflict in the Middle East affects my family, and all Palestinian refugees. Right now in Syria, many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are being forced across borders again, forced to start all over from scratch, forced to return to life in tents, and forced to live without the support and comfort of their families.

I hate borders. My family, like most Palestinian refugees, is torn apart and divided by Israeli borders and restrictions. The simple act of sitting around one table became an impossibility for me and my siblings. Because of this dispersion, any political conflict in the Middle East affects my family, and all Palestinian refugees. Right now in Syria, many of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees are being forced across borders again, forced to start all over from scratch, forced to return to life in tents, and forced to live without the support and comfort of their families. The young generation of Palestinian refugees that was born and grew up in Syria are leaving now as a result of the bloody conflict that has been going on for over a year. Their families are being scattered another time.

Hundreds of thousands of refugees from Syria crossed the borders to Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. Refugee camps are built quickly at the borders of Turkey and Jordan while families in Iraq and Lebanon take the refugees in. Each day new waves of people arrive, most of them women and children. They have no milk, food, clothes, or medicine, not to mention books or schools. These children are resilient but they are struggling to survive, and now the coldest time of the year is approaching. One day they will return to their homes and villages, be it in Syria or in Palestine, but right now they are waiting for the basic necessities to help them survive.

We at MECA hear this call, and need to respond. We have already sent three medical shipments to the refugee camps in Lebanon (see here for details of the shipments). We are now working hard on another shipment, because we feel it is our duty to send aid to the Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Lebanon who have fled the violence. Many people and organizations in Lebanon have been calling and asking for support from MECA, because refugees aren’t getting enough support. There is an urgent need for medical supplies, as well as emotional support to deal with the trauma of the conflict.